Reply-To: info@jsc.nasa.gov
2000
Report # 62
Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2000 ñ 3 p.m. CST
Expedition One Crew
Almost two months into their vanguard mission, the Expedition One crew
spent the week checking systems on the International Space Station (ISS),
conducting biomedical experiments and preparing for the redocking of an
unmanned Progress resupply vehicle next week after a break to celebrate
Christmas.
Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei
Krikalev spent the last two days updating the Stationís computers which
keep track of all of the hardware used on board as part of an ìinventory
management systemî designed to maintain files on where all of the crewís
equipment is located.
Now in their 50th day in space and their 48th day aboard the ISS,
Shepherd, Gidzenko and Krikalev also conducted routine maintenance on
environmental systems and communications gear as they near the midway
point of their planned four-month mission.
The Elektron oxygen-generation system, the Vozdukh carbon dioxide removal
system and the air conditioning system are all working in excellent shape
in the Zvezda living quarters to maintain a comfortable environment for
the three crew members. Work is underway to determine how many spare parts
for key Station systems will be delivered aboard the Shuttle Atlantis next
month on the STS-98 mission to install the U.S. Laboratory Destiny to the
ISS. Other spare parts are scheduled to be launched aboard the next
Progress resupply ship to the Station, currently targeted for blastoff
around February 10th.
The Expedition crew plans a quiet Christmas celebration in orbit next
Monday, opening presents delivered on the last Progress vehicle and by
Endeavourís astronauts earlier this month on the STS-97 mission. They will
talk to their families in private conferences and enjoy a dinner of
rehydrated turkey. Shepherd said yesterday the crew plans to spend a lot
of time on Christmas simply looking out of the ISS windows at the Earth
below.
This week, U.S. and Russian managers formally approved a plan for the
redocking of the second Progress resupply ship to the ISS at around 5:00
a.m. Central time (1100 GMT) on December 26th. The Progress will be
manually guided in by Gidzenko for its linkup to the Zarya moduleís nadir,
or downward facing, docking port. Gidzenko will be operating a joystick at
the Zvezda moduleís command post, which is part of the TORU, or
telerobotically operated navigation system, as he flies the Progress in
for its second docking to the Station.
Earlier today, Russian flight controllers executed the first is a series
of engine firings on the Progress to begin drawing the vehicle back toward
the ISS for its linkup. The firing occurred with the unmanned craft about
2300 kilometers in front of the ISS and was designed to raise the orbit of
the Progress so that its closure rate on the Station would slow to about
40 kilometers per orbit, placing the Progress just 600 kilometers in front
of the orbiting outpost this weekend. Additional engine firings are
planned on Christmas Day and again in the morning on December 26 to refine
the Progressí path to the ISS, ultimately placing the craft about 200
meters below the Zarya moduleís docking port, where Gidzenko will take
over manual control of the approach of the Progress.
Once docked, the Progress will be used as a trash receptacle by Shepherd,
Gidzenko and Krikalev until it is undocked a final time the day after
Atlantisí launch on the next Shuttle assembly flight to the ISS. The
Progress was launched on November 16th from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan and was manually docked to the ISS on November 18th By Gidzenko
after its automated navigation system encountered a software problem. The
Progress was undocked on December 1st after the launch of Endeavour and
was placed in a parking orbit to allow Russian engineers time to devise a
software patch to the automatic guidance system which will be tested
during next Tuesdayís rendezvous and redocking.
An Expedition One Mission Status Briefing is scheduled for Thursday,
December 21 at 4 p.m. EST at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX to
discuss the progress of the flight and upcoming activities for Shepherd,
Gidzenko and Krikalev. The briefers will include Lead Expedition One
Flight Director Jeff Hanley and ISS Flight Director John Curry, who is
overseeing the plans for the Progress redocking. The briefing will include
a multicenter question and answer capability and will be broadcast on NASA
Television, which can be found on GE-2, Transponder 9C at 85 degrees West
longitude, vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 Mhz and audio
of 6.8 Mhz.
The next written Expedition One status report will be issued on Tuesday,
December 26 following the Progress redocking, or sooner, if developments
warrant.
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